LIMA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The city of Lima, Peru, is ready to host over 10,000 people during the upcoming Summit of the Americas (SOA), which will take place on April 13-14, President of the Lima Bureau of Conventions and Visitors (BCVL) Carlos Canales said on Sunday.
In an interview with Xinhua, Canales confirmed that the Summit of the Americas will receive "dignitaries from all the countries of the Americas."
As a central topic, the summit has chosen "Democratic Governance against Corruption," a topic of common concern to the heads of state, ministers, business leaders and civil society representatives set to attend.
Canales is confident that the media attention surrounding the event will favor Peru as the host country. "Every government event of this size has a multiplying effect, especially for the image of the country," he explained.
Concerning the economic windfall the Summit of the Americas could have on the Peruvian services sector, Canales estimates that "for this meeting, we are calculating the creation of almost 50 million U.S. dollars."
Furthermore, hosting the Summit of the Americas is a landmark moment for the Peruvian capital which, over the last five years, has been transformed with a new conventions center, numerous five-star hotels and high-end restaurants.
The Conventions Center is a modern complex located on the central Javier Prado avenue, near the national museum and national library. Inaugurated in 2015, it can receive 10,000 people.
However, Canales says Peru has already been prepped for such events, having hosted the COP 20 climate change conference in 2014, the IMF and World Bank Annual meetings in 2015 and the APEC Forum in 2016.
Canales mentions that such events as the Summit of the Americas would have a massive impact on the Peruvian services sector, which is in a hiring boom as it grows around 18 percent a year.
"In the city of Lima, we are creating around 200,000 jobs, involving the services sectors, across hotels, transport, logistical support, translations, event organization, technical assistance," he explained.
He added that the design industry was also becoming ever more dynamic, "which has registered growth of over 100 percent in the last five years."
Finally, the BCVL president said that this year, around 500 Chinese businessmen, representing over 250 companies, would take part in the "Expo Arcon 2018" from July 3-7, concerning the construction, machinery and architecture sectors.
"We feel Chinese companies could participate in our hotel sector," said Canales.
BCVL projections say that the Peruvian conventions industry should bring in around 1.15 billion U.S. dollars in 2018. According to BCVL figures, the industry in Peru has been growing at 17 percent a year.
